1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fabric assembly particularly suitable as ballistic resistant soft body armor and method of manufacture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many designs for body armor for resisting ballistic threats have been proposed and many commercialized. Designs are made to increase comfort by the wearer and/or to add extra penetration resistance without increasing areal density. Comfort is generally increased by making the body armor lighter and more flexible to allow freedom of motion by the wearer. However, reduction in apparel weight should not be achieved at the expense of a significant reduction in anti-ballistic performance.
US 2008/0075933 A1 discloses a ballistic-resistant assembly containing flexible elements of high strength fibres having connecting means on a rear part side of the assembly to interconnect adjacent elements. Such assemblies are claimed to reduce trauma (back face deformation) during a ballistic event.
Niemi and Cuniff in Technical Note Natick/TN-91/0004 with a title “The Performance of Quilted Body Armor Systems Under Ballistic Impact by Right Circular Cylinders” state that “Based on results obtained with 1.1 gram right circular cylinders, the effect of quilting resulted in little or no increase in the calculated ballistic limit values or specific energy absorption capacity of the Kevlar®, Spectra® and nylon armor systems evaluated”.
There is a need for a light weight soft body armor which allows an increase in ballistic resistance without an increase in weight.